Closure for containers



NOV. 25, 1952 FUCHS 2,619,253

CLOSURE FOR CONTAINERS Filed July 5, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1 I N VE N TOR. 506cm: 0. Hens ATTORNEYS Nov. 25, 1952 E- A. FUCHS CLOSUREFOR CONTAINERS Filed July 5, 1949 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2 l2 /IIIIIIIII IIIIIIII" I IIIlIIIIIII/lllll 4 IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII I INVENTOR. Emu-1v: A Fucms BY 6/ 82 Wee/1% ATTOR N EY'S Patented Nov. 25, 1952 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE 2 Claims.

This invention relates to closure means( for containers, and more particularly to that. type of closure which is pivotally secured to the container so as to swing transversely into open and closed position with respect to an opening in the container.

The general object of the invention is to provide an improved closure device of this type which shall consist of a minimum number of parts, so that it will be exceptionally cheap to manufacture, and which at the same time will be simple and convenient to use and efficient in operation, affording a tight seal.

The invention is designed especially for use with a milk can or container of the usual type but it is not of course restricted to such use. In fact, it is applicable to containers of many different types such as powder cans, storage batteries, gasoline tanks, jars, oil cups, inlets on oil lines. and the like. Furthermore, while the device is shown as made of sheet metal, it may be fabricated from many other difierent materials. including the various plastics, and may be formed by stamping, casting, welding, or by other methods well known in industry and commerce.

Devices of this general type are known, wherein a container is provided with an open neck portion to which is pivotally attached a closure cap which may be swung about an axis generally at right angles to the plane of the edge of the opening. However, with this arrangement, difii culty has been experienced in obtaining a tight seal when closed because if the cap is made to lit the opening tightly in the closed position, the frictional resistance to pivotal movement is too great for satisfactory operation, and produces detrimental wear on the closure seal.

Attempts have been made to reduce this frictional resistance by slightly displacing the axis of pivotal movement with respect to the plane of the edge of the opening so that the sealing face of the cap is moved angularly with respect to the edge of the opening when it is swung into and out of its closed position. This construction necessitates exceptional care in the forming of the pivot means inasmuch as the angular displacement of both elements must match, and where a hole is to be drilled, or a pin inserted, it cannot be done at right angles, but requires a special setting of the press or drill. Furthermore, this type of arrangement introduces excessive shearing forces into the pivot pin, resulting in premature wear on the pin with resultant misalignment and loss of effective sealing.

In my present improved form of closure cap the hinge means is so constructed as to allow the cap to be swung into and out of its closed position about an axis which is substantially normal to the plane of the edge. of the opening, and the frictional drag is eliminated by providing means in the hinge which. gives the cap a slight movement in. a; direction. parallel with the pivotal axis while swinging about its pivot, causing. the cap to be lifted off from the. edge of the opening as it isswung toward open position, the cap meanwhile remaining in all positions insubstantially parallel relationship tov the. plane of the opening.

It is also an objectof my invention to providean attaching means for pivotal closure. of this nature which will enable such a. closure to be readily secured to an existing container, in place of the original closure. means.

In order that the. invention may: be readily understood, reference is had to the accompanying drawings, forming part of this, specification, and in which:

Fig. 1 is aplan :view ofv the. upper end of a container showing means for mounting my improved swingable cap, but. with the cap omitted;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the upper end of a con.- tainer with the closure cap shown thereon in the closed position;

Fig. 3 isa fragmentary vertical section through the upper portion of the container, parts. being in elevation;

Fig. 4 is a detailed. sectional view of the. hinge member carried by the. cap taken. on the line 44 of Fig. 3;

Fig. 5 is a detailed sectional view of such hinge member taken on the line 5-5. of Fig. 4,. looking in the direction of the arrows;

Fig. 6 is an enlarged elevation of a portion of the neck of a container showing details of the cap clamping means;

Fig. 7 is an enlarged sectional. View showing the sealing gasket carried by the cap;

Fig. 8 is a plan view similar to, Fig. 1 but illustrating a modified form of the device, and with the neck of the container shown in section;v

Fig. 9 is an elevation of the modified form of device shown in Fig. 8; and

Fig. 10 is an end elevation of the. hinge member shown in side elevation in Fig. 9.

Referring to the drawings. in detail, reference numeral I0 indicates a can or container provided with an upstanding neck portion H which defines an opening terminating in the rolled edge H A closure means for this opening includes a cap I2 which may be pivotally secured to the container by a hinge means indicated generally at l3, and held closed by a clamping means: indicated generally at M. In the closed position both the clamping means l4 and the hinge means l3 actto press the underside. of the cap [2 against the edge I l and agasket I51 of softmaterialmay be provided on the cap to insure. a tight seal, as shown in Fig. '7'. A handle l2 is secured to the cap for manipulating the same.

The hinge means l3 includes a. member [6 ex tending outwardly from the side of. the neck H, and secured thereto, as by welding, and a member ll attached to the edge of the cap 12... The member H is formed of rigidly connected upper and lower elements. disposedsubstantially paral-- lel with each other, and spaced apart sufficiently to allow the member I6 to be received between them with a certain amount of vertical clearance, the purpose of which will hereinafter appear. The member I9 is provided with a pivot pin 18 which extends beyond the faces of said member and enters suitable journal openings l9 provided in th upper and lower elements of the member ll. As shown in Fig. 2 the pin 18 is, disposed so as to allow the cap l2 to swing across the neck of the container 1 I on an axis which is normal to the plane of the edge He, defining the opening in the container l9, and located outside of said opening from the closed position (shown in solid v lines) to its open position (shown by the broken lines). The outer face 29 of the member I6 is preferably formed with an arcuate contour which is substantially concentric with the pivot pin l8, and a helically disposed element or cam rib 2| projects from and partially surrounds the same. For cooperative engagement with the element or rib 2| there is provided on an inner face of the member ll slotted guide means comprising a pair of vertically spaced abutments 22 and 23, between which the cam rib is loosely received. It will thus be seen that as the cap 52 swings about the pin it, from closed toward open position, the abutment 22 bearing against the upper face of helical element or rib 2! will cause the cap to be lifted vertically, thus clearing the edge of the opening, whereas, when the cap I2 is swung back into its closed position so that the gasket i registers with the edge ll, the abutment 23 will engage the under side of the helical element 2|, producing a downwardly directed force during the last part of the travel tending to press the cap i2 down tightly.

The clamping means [4 also assists in tightly sealing the cap or closure and includes a lug 24 extending laterally from th side of the neck H and secured thereto as by welding, and a keeper backwardly as at 28', while one end of the member 29 may be offset as at 29, then turned inwardly as at 29 thence backwardly as at 29, the two ends thus formed thereby being capable of an interfitting slidable engagement with each other which will resist the reactive tensional force set up when th other abutting end portions and 3| are drawn up as by the bolt-and-nut arrangement 32, yet at the same time may be quickly slid l0 H supporting member or lug projecting laterally or radially of the side of the container or of the side of the neck I mean to include either the arrangement shown in Figs. 1-3, in which the supporting member is permanently attached to the container, or the arrangement shown in Figs. 8 and 9, in which the member is carried by a band encircling th container.

I claim:

1. Hinge means for a pivotal closure means for 3 a container provided with an opening comprising a member extending outwardly from said opening, a pivot pin extending through said member and projecting above and below the same in a direction normal to the plane of the opening in the container, the outer face of said 25 attached to the edge of the cap 12. The keeper 25 is formed with a downwardly and inwardly extending portion 29, the upper surface 29 of which engages with the lower surface 24* of the lug 24. Either one, or both of the surfaces 24 and 26 may be vertically inclined slightly to produce a wedging action, but in the preferred embodiment shown, the surface 2% is inclined slightly, and surface 25 is somewhat arcuate in vertical section, as shown in Fig. 6.

It will thus be seen that the hinge means i3 and clamping means 14 co-operate in pressing the underside of the closure evenly against the sealing surface of the container around its entire periphery, when the closure is in closed position. The angle of the rib 2| of the hinge member may be of any degree desired, but the inclination of the surface of lug 24 of the clamping means must be such as to work in conjunction with the angle of the rib so as to insure movement of the closure parallel with itself to produce the desired sealing action. Due to the relation and co-operation between the hinge means and clamping means there will always be an even sealing pressure around the periphery of the closure.

In Figs. 8 and 9 there is shown a modified form of the invention which is suitable for use with existing containers to which it is desired to apply a closure means of the type just described. In this modification an attachment generally indicated at 21 comprises a pair of elongated members 28 and 29 shaped to snugly encircle the neck III! of a container |90. On end of the member 28 may be turned outwardly as at 2B, and thence outwardly extending member having an arcuate surface substantially concentric with said pivot pin, a bearing member for said closure means having spaced substantially parallel elements journalled to receive said pivot pin, the thickness of said outwardly extending member being less than the distance between said parallel elements in order to permit axial as well as pivotal movement of the closure means, a helically disposed rib on said arcuate surface, and abutment means on said bearing member for slidable engagement with the rib.

2. In a container having an open ended cylindrical neck, a closure member for sealing said neck, a fixed member projecting laterally of the EUGENE A. FUCHS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 1,028,499 Schott June 4, 1912 1,588,675 Gore June 15, 1926 1,896,330 Ruppel Feb. '7, 1933 2,145,560 Staley Jan. 31, 1939 2,173,787 Luckel Sept. 19, 1939 

